I have seen a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEcM6zleC6M) of a guy who is at the same mission as me but of a much higher level as me (He is 25, I am 19) and has a TON more shields and HP than me.

I am pretty much always dying when I try to solo missions. When I am with a team, I have to let them do the mission while I sit in a corner.

Are there any tips to level up fast? Like.... kill tons of enemies, do side quests, etc.?Also, are there any ways to get more shields and HP?

The question is faaar too general and far too open to individual preference. It's like when someone asks "what is the BEST siren build?" that depends on how you want to play her. or "what is the best gun in the game?" that the answer is different for nearly every person who plays.
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Brandon BouquillonJan 6 '13 at 3:22

In my opinion for instance the best thing for you would be to get to the wildlife preserve and IF you have access to it, do the natural selection annex. it's the animal version of the circle of slaughter. YOU WILL DIE A LOT. but you will also kill a ton of enemies and level up a lot. as for your gear issues, just keep playing and you will find better. multi-player will go a long way but i would also recommend looking on youtube for where to get the legendary items, some of them will go a loooong way to improving your play.
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Brandon BouquillonJan 6 '13 at 3:27

3 Answers
3

There is no specific way to level up fast. (Well, there were exploits like that RSVP mission, but they are grinding and not fun.)

You just need to take missions slower - i.e. check level on main missions - if the main mission is of higher level than you, go look for some side missions. Generally, if you do all of the side missions, you should have plenty of extra experience and be at least of equal level to main quests.

Shield points do not depend on your level - only on the shield equipped. To get high-level shields and other equipment, you need to either farm an area with monsters of decent level, or frequent vending machines in such areas. For example, if you are on a Dam Fine Rescue quest and level 12, there is no point to hang out in Three Horns Divide - the area, enemies and vending machines are all level 8, and you'll never get a good drop there.

TL;DR:

To get more HP, level up by doing more side quests.

To get stronger shields, fight stronger enemies, ideally of your own level.

On a related note: killing higher level enemies will level you up faster than killing same-or-lower level enemies simply because they give more XP. It's much harder, obviously, but if you can do it then you reap the rewards.
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AlexJan 4 '13 at 17:24

@Alex As long as you kill those enemies fast enough, which is almost always a problem (damage scales down against a higler-level target starting at 2 levels IIRC). On the other hand, such fights can reward you with better loot, so you have a point :-)
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Orc JMRJan 4 '13 at 18:49

Online Option

Another option is to join a player's game where they are many levels above you (ideally 10+). This is seen as a incompatible match, however providing you stay out of the way of gunfire as the enemies WILLone or two-shot you, but close enough to receive the XP.

This is one way I have done it. Remembering - It only works if there is a big enough level difference due to the scaling of XP when leveling.

One reason that two people who have completed all of the same quests may have different amounts of XP is that one of them has killed a lot more enemies than the other. This may be because they have been grinding, but it may be that in addition to doing quests for themselves, they have joined with a friend to help them, and have thus done the quests two or more times. They shouldn't get any extra XP for doing the quests more, but in the process they will certainly kill many more enemies!

Such a disparity has nothing to do with quests themselves, only with killing more monsters. If you have already completed a quest and join a game where your friend is just turning it in, you'll see something like "Quest complete, sorry, you've already collected the reward in another game, kthxbai!"
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Orc JMRJan 4 '13 at 12:31